Sharp County record., 1887-10-13
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A Tribute to the Sailors Whose
Achievements Are Forgotten.
Deeds of Naval Heroes Who Sleep Be-
meath the Sea-ImpresSive Word
Painting Of Historic Fleets
and Their Commanders.

meath the Sea-Impressive Word
Painting of Historic Fleets
and Their Commanders.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage preached a
memorial sermon in the Brooklyn Tab
ernaaIe, on q recent Sabbath, in which ne
devoted his attention more particularly
to the naval heroes Of the past. He took
for his text:
/ Behold also the ships-James iii, 4.
2 He said: If this exclamation were ap-
propriate about eighteen hundred and
sixty years ago, when it was written con-
cerning the crude fishing smacks that
sailed Lake Galilee, how much more ap-
propriate in an age which has launched
from the dry docks for purposes OF
peace the Arizona, of the GuiOn Line; the
City Of Richmond, Of the Inman Line;
the Egypt, Of the National Line; the Ger
manic, of the White Star Line; the Cir
cassia, Of the Anchor Line; the Etrurla,
Of the Cunard Line, and the Great East
ern, with hull $50 feet long-not failure,
for it helped lay the Atlantic
cable, and that was enough glory
for one ships existence-and in
an age which for purposes OF
war has launched the screw-sloops like
the Idaho. the Shenandoah, the Ossippe,
and our iron-clads like the Kalamazoo,
the Roanoke and the Dunderberg, and
those which have already been buried in
the Deep like the Monitor, the Housa-
tonic, the Weehawken and the Tecumseh,
the tempests ever since sounding a yolley
over their water sepuIchers, and the
Scared veterans Of war shipping, like the
Constitution. or the Alliance, or the Con
stellatlOn, that have swung into the naval
yards to spend their last days, their decks
now all silent of the feet that trOd them,
their rigging all silent of the hands that
cIung to them, their portfolios silent OF
the brazen thrOats that once thundered
out of them. If in the first century, when
war vessels were dependent on the oars
that padded at the side Of them for pro-
pulsion, my text was suggestive; with how
much more emphasis, and meaning, and
overwhelming Renaissance we can cry
out, as we see the Kearsage lay across
the bows Of the Alabama and sink it,
teaching foreign nations they had better
keep their hand of our American fight, or
as we see the ram Albemarle, Of the Con-
federates, running out and in the Roam
oke, and up AMI down the coast, throw
ing every thing into confusion as no other
craft ever did, pursued by the Miami, the
Ceres. the Southfeld, the Sassacus, the
Mattabesett, the Whitehead, the Commo-
dore Hull, the Louisiana, the Minnesota
and other armed vessels, all trying in
vain to catch her, until Captain Cushing,
twenty-one years Of age, and his men
blew her up, himself and only one other
escaping; and, as 1 see the flagship Hart
ford, and the Richmond, and the Monon-
gahela, with other gunbOats, sweep past
the batteries of Port Hudson, and the
Mississippi flows forever free to all North
ern and Southern craft, cry out with a
patriotic emotion that can not suppress
if would, and would not if could:
'Behold also the ships y
At the annual decoration Of graves,
North and South, among Federals and
Tonfederates, full justice has been done
90 the-memory of those who fought on the
land in our great contest, but not enough
has been said Of those who on ships deck
dared and suffered all things. Lord God
of the rivers and the sea, help me in this
sermon! So, ye Admirals, Commodor es,
Commanders, Captains, pilots, gunners,
boatswalns, sail-makers, surgeons, stok-
ers, messmates and seamen ohll names,
to use your own parlance, we might as
well get under way and stand out toward
sea. Let all land lubbers go ashore. Full
speed now Four bells.
Never since the sea fight Of Lepanto
where 300 royal galleys, manned by 80, 900
warriors, at sunrise, September 6, 1571,
met 250 royal galleys, manned by $4,000
men, and in the four hours of battle 5000
fell on one side, and % 900 on the other;
yea, never since the day when at Actium,
thirty-one years before Christ, Augustus,
with 269 ships, scattered the 260
ships Of Mark Antony and gained uni
versal dominion as the prize; yea, since
the day when at SalamiS the 100 galleys
of the Persians, manned by 100000 men,
were crushed by Greeks with less than
third Of that force; yea, never since the
time Of Noah, the first ship captain, has
the world seen such miraculous crea-
ton as that Of the American navy in 1851.
There were about 200 available seamen n
all the navy stations and receiving ships,
and here and there an old vessel Yet
orders were given to blockade $500 miles
Of seacoast, greater than the whole coast
of Europe, and besides that, the Ohio, Ten
nessee, Cumberland, Mississippi and
other great rivers, covering an extent of
1000 more miles, were to be patroled. No
wonder the whole civilized world burst
into guffaw of laughter at the seeming
impossbility. But the work was done,
done almost Immediately, done thorough
ly, and done with speed and
consummate skill that ecllpsed
all the history of naval architecture.
What brilliant achievements are sug-
gested by the mere mention of the nam es
of the Rear Admlrals. If all they did
should be written, every one, suppose
that even the world itself could not con-
tain the books that should be written.
But these names have received the honors
due. The most of them went to their graves
under the cannonade Of all the forts, navy
yards and men-of-war, the flags of all the
shipping and capitols at half-mast
But recite to-day the deeds of our nav
al heroes who have not yet received ap-
propriate recngn tion.
Behold also the ships
As we will never know what our ma
tional prosperity is worth until we realize
what it cost, recall the unrecit ed fact
that the men of the navy ran especial
risks They had not only the human
Nvaa ponrv IN contend with but the t1das